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Tide faces big-time player in Punter

TUSCALOOSA — After facing one dominant player in LSU’s Ben Simmons on Saturday, Alabama basketball must deal with another prolific offensive threat when Tennessee travels to Coleman Coliseum today.

Volunteer guard Kevin Punter is averaging 23.3 points per game, which is good for No. 7 in the nation.

Punter has upped his average to 25.3 points per game in SEC games.

“He’s a little bit of a throwback because his midrange game is pretty efficient,” Tide coach Avery Johnson said. “These days, it’s either a 3 or you’re getting a guy driving all the way to the basket. But his in-between game at 12 feet is pretty outstanding. And he gets his shot off, he’s got a great touch, he can drive both ways, so it’s not like we can force him left or force him right. But I think that’s really what separates him. I think he gets to the free-throw line about eight times a game, so he’s pretty efficient there.”

Tipoff for Tennessee at Alabama is scheduled for 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.

For the Crimson Tide, the goal is getting back on track after a tough start in SEC play. Alabama is 1-5 in league play (10-7 overall) coming off a last-minute home loss to LSU.

One area Johnson believes the team can immediately improve upon is free-throw shooting. Against LSU, the Tide shot 63 percent from the free-throw line. For the season, the Tide is shooting just 64 percent.

Johnson said the team has put a “big emphasis” on making the free ones, adding that he’s hopeful the team has “better fortune” making the shots especially in the “last five minutes” of each game.

“We stop during practice and work on it a lot. We have all sorts of games that we play,” Johnson said. “We’ll put a score on the clock, we’re down two and we need to make both of these free throws or the guys have to run. We do a lot of different things trying to improve our free-throw shooting. I try to work on our players’ mechanics, but sometimes it’s not always a mechanical thing as much as it could be confidence, just trying to stay calm during that time and knocking it down.”

NOTEWORTHY: Alabama has lost four of its last five games with its lone win coming at home against a ranked South Carolina team. … Alabama owns a 43-18 edge over Tennessee when the two play in Tuscaloosa. … Alabama guard Retin Obasohan has scored 20 or more points in seven of the Tide’s 18 games this season. … At 23.3 ppg., Tennessee guard Kevin Punter Jr. is the nation’s seventh-leading scorer. He is averaging 25.3 ppg in SEC play this season.